Any special information about player: Drafted by the Mariners #1st, June 1995. Traded by the Mariners to the Blue Jays 07/31/1997. Bats: both. Throws: right.

Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his second Topps card.

Blurb on the back: "Batting .214 with 3 HRs on June 13, 1998, Jose recovered to hit .285 with 8 HRs after a minor league stint."

Commentary: While the 1999 Topps design utilized gold colored borders and design elements, I am so glad that they limited the gold foil to the name of the player and the Topps logo. The large pictures really makes the action shots pop, thus making the 1999 set one of my favorites. Because Jose was sent to the minors, the last line of stats were from his 40 games at Syracuse. In the majors, his stats were: 105 G, 352 AB, 55 R, 89 H, 14 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 11 SB, .403 SLG, 57 BB, 99 SO, .253 AVG. The son of longtime Astros' shortstop Jose Cruz, Jose, Jr. did eventually proved he belonged as a bonafide major leaguer. In 1999, the Blue Jays' centerfielder hit a decent .241 with 14 home runs and 45 rbi's. In six seasons in Toronto, he hit 122 home runs and 355 rbi's to go with OBP/SLG/OPS percentages of .331/.462/.793. He signed with the Giants in 2003 and won Gold Glove for his play in rightfield (2 errors in 360 chances, 7 double plays, 18 assists). His journeyman career began in 2004 with stints with the Devil Rays, then followed an injury-riddled 2005 with the Diamondbacks, Red Sox (for four games in 2005), and Dodgers. In 2007, he joined the Padres, after being designated for assignment by LA. After 91 games, however, the team released him. One final run with the Astros in 1998 in which he hit .122 in 38 games resulted in him DFA'd. He hasn't played in the majors since. He has since worked as an analyst for MLB.com.

Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.

How many cards of this player do I own?: 21.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1980 Topps #579. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

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The Topps 300 (and then some...)

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The Topps 300 (and then some...)

Inspired by Topps attempt to whittle down the Top 60 cards of All-Time, I thought that the Hobby Blogging Community can do better. And now that they have been announcing, card by card, the results of their voting, now is the time to ensure that your favorite cards from every year is on the ballot.

The best five cards from each year (my opinion, from 1951-2010) is included in each post (see the slideshow on the sidebar). I am inviting readers to add comments to each post telling me what cards should have been included. What will happen eventually is that every card will be put to a vote to determine the best card from every year, and then the best cards of All-Time.

So please take the time to visit the site and let me know what you think.

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For the record (like this even needs to be pointed out...), bdj610 does not work for, and is not affiliated in any way with, the Topps Company Incorporated, or any of their corporate partners, associates, or vendors. All views and opinions expressed on this blog are strictly those of the writer alone and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of any employee of the Topps Company, the Tornante Group, or Madison Dearborn Partners.

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